Penny, a Toronto-based artist, has
been making wondrous, hyper-real sculptures of the human form for more
than 30 years. Along the way, he’s gained international acclaim for his
skill in recreating, with exacting detail, the textures, forms and
gestures of the human body. Certainly, it can take a few looks to be
sure there aren’t actual people lurking in his silicone-and-human-hair
creations.

Also worthy of a double-take, however, given Penny’s aesthetic, technical and critical success, is the fact that Re Figured is only the first AGO solo show for this masterful local.

Re Figured was actually
developed by German curator Daniel J. Schreiber, who premiered it at the
Kunsthalle Tubingen in June 2011, then toured it to Austria’s Museum
der Moderne Salzburg and Italy’s Museo delle Arti Cantanzaro before its
final stop here.

Yet Penny, who turns 60 next year, is gracious about his hometown gallery having taken a while to honour his achievements.

“Probably all artists would say it
[the recognition] always comes too late, right?” he says, smiling. “But I
think, in fact, this is kind of perfect timing.”